Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 259 Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,060 shares of the company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Corteva were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Corteva during the third quarter valued at approximately $99,869,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Corteva by 6.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,788,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,746,000 after buying an additional 856,007 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Corteva by 267.3% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,120,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,851,000 after buying an additional 815,135 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Corteva by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,290,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,914,000 after buying an additional 768,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Corteva by 176.0% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 934,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,954,000 after buying an additional 596,073 shares during the last quarter. 81.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Corteva Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CTVA opened at $62.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.25. Corteva, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.01 and a fifty-two week high of $66.24. The firm has a market cap of $42.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.78.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.02). Corteva had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 7.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Corteva, Inc. will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Corteva declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 19th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Corteva’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CTVA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Corteva from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Corteva from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Corteva from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Corteva from $74.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.31.

About Corteva

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.